Writing and nurturing go hand in hand and since the last 15 years, The British Council has been at the forefront with Writer’s Bloc, a unique platform for theatre, started by The British Council in association with Rage Productions, Mumbai and Royal Court Theatre, London. This unique skill development programme discovers, trains, and presents new playwrights by putting the script at the centre of the theatre-making process. Every year mentors at Writer’s Bloc put their time and minds together to nurture young talent. “The result is tremendous. Every year the number is growing and in the process we come across many talented writers and scripts,” says actor Shernaz Patel who was in the city for a specially curated showcase of original plays written by playwrights from Writers’ Bloc.
This year the programme received over 240 entries. “That’s because the wide expanse of people come from various professional backgrounds and their aims are different. Some want to pursue the career of a novel writer, some want to get into script writing for movies, some for web series as well. The needs are different and there aren’t many such programmes which take care of writers and their works,” adds Shernaz who has essayed roles in movies and numerous plays.
Shernaz says some of the talent comes from a love for theatre itself. She rues that theatre and literature are not taught at an early age in India. “Except an annual play staged by all kids, do schools really teach the art of appreciating theatre? I am planning to begin and suggest this very soon in a few schools and see how it goes. Young children should be exposed to literature at a young age because that is the time they are developing the innate sense of dialogue,” adds Shernaz, pointing out that performing media is always exciting for children because they get involved. It’s tough to make theater a natural part of growing up. Citing her own theatre career as an example, she says, “Over the years, reading and watching stalwarts in various plays have made us improve our craft.”
Shernaz says that retaining all the writers who come for the programme isn’t easy. “Writers go through ups and downs and then for economic reasons, it’s tough to survive as a playwright. It’s honestly sad that we don’t see all the writers continuing to write,” says Shernaz. As part of its 15 years celebrations, the British Council will stage a specially curated showcase of original plays written by playwrights from Writers’ Bloc. Staged readings of plays from the Writers’ Bloc collection at the nine British Council offices will also be held.
